Prof Jo Phoenix vs The OU - Employment Tribunal Thread 4

[ickky]

Started on 2nd October at Watford Employment Tribunal (Radius House, 51 Clarendon Rd, Watford WD17 1HP 01923 281750)

You may attend in person or remote viewing has been quite limited but you can request log in details from

Email [email protected]

Header should read

URGENT CURRENT CASE - Public Access Request - J Phoenix - The Open University - 3322700/2021

Ask for access link and pin and please give your name and address in the email as they check when you connect to the tribunal.

The clerk will ask you (in a private remote room) to put your camera on to verify, this involves looking at you, but no ID is needed. You may turn off your camera after this pointless and unnecessary process.

Abbreviations

JP - Jo Phoenix, Claimant (C)
OU - The Open University, Respondent (R)
J - Regional Employment Judge Young
P - Panel or panel member
BC - Ben Cooper KC, Counsel for C
JM - Jane Mulcahy KC, Counsel for R

OU Departments & Networks:

HWSRA - Health & Wellbeing Strategic Research Area
FASS - Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
SPC - Dept of Social Policy & Criminology
KMi - Knowledge Media Institute
GCRN - Gender Critical Research Network

OU witnesses

PB - Dr Paraskevi Boukli, Former Senior Lecturer Criminology, Deputy Head SPC 2021-22
IF - Prof Ian Fribbance Dean of FASS
MW - Prof Marcia Wilson, Dean EDI, 2020-23
CM - Caragh Molloy, Group People Director 2019-23
LD - Dr Leigh Downes, Senior Lecturer in Criminology (in SPC), Academic Lead for EDI FASS 2019-21
DD - Dr Deborah Drake, Senior Lecturer Criminology, Head of SPC 2018-21
CT - Catherine Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
LW - Louise Westmarland, Prof of Criminology, Co-Deputy Head SPC, 2018-21, Current Head SPC
JD - John Domingue, Prof of Computing Science, Director KMi, 2015-22
PK - Peter Keogh, Professor Health & Society, Member RSSH
CW - Dr Christopher Williams, Senior Lecturer History
SD - Shaun Daley, Head OU’s Resourcing Hub. Head Strategic Resources, Co-Chair OU’s LGBT+ Staff Network
HBC - Helen Bowes-Catton, Lecturer Social Research Methods
NS - Nicola Snarey, Assoc Lecturer Eng Language
NatS - Natalie Starkey, Outreach & Public Engagement Officer Sch Physical Sciences, 2019-22
CT - Cath Tomlinson, Senior Student Advisor
SJ - Samantha Jacobson, Employee Relations Case Manager
RH - Richard Holliman, Prof Engaged Research, Head School Environment, Earth & Ecosystem Sciences, 2019-22. Member of Investigation Panel investigating the C’s grievance

Witness for JP:

SE - Sarah Earle, Professor Modern History Uni of Oxford, Founding member GCRN

Tribunal Tweets - https://twitter.com/tribunaltweets

TT coverage so far https://tribunaltweets.substack.com/p/professor-jo-phoenix-v-the-open-university

Thread 1 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4905118-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-2nd-october-whispers-ben-cooper?page=1

Thread 2 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4913946-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-2?page=1

Thread 3 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/4917480-prof-jo-phoenix-vs-the-ou-employment-tribunal-thread-3

And can I add my thanks to all the commenters, analysts and song makers. All much appreciated!

Well we don’t think so. But recognising my own bias it’s possible all the other TRAs are nodding along and think she did great

May I suggest the Cuckoo Bee for animal of the day?

Another lurker here popping up to say thanks to everyone updating the thread.
Also - I've just had an update email from Jo's fund page as she could do with some gardening given how long this is taking. So if anyone has any🌻🌺

Hmm perhaps my sarcasm is lost in the written word re Eddie Erish

Haha if it's literal violence for Downes to be played by a "cis" person, I'd suggest Elliott Page. Or that young actress who played Diana in the Crown, I think she ids as "non binary".

Another lurker, then again I'm always lurking, lol.
Thumbs up from me too.
Has any movement been so fragile, so brittle? I think not.

Jo has published her witness statement at her Substack https://jophoenix.substack.com/p/phoenix-v-open-university?sd=pf

Who’s the judge

EJ Young.

Also got the email saying the schedule slipping means costs are up hence the need for more gardening.

If they get more than required, I'd like my donation to go towards Ben's much-deserved-and-needed-holiday find.

Just a hunch, but I feel like TRAs are not sending us their best people.

😂

Has any other civil rights movement fought for pandering, patronising and provided labour as opposed to just wanting to be recognised as being no different to anyone else?

There is no 'right' to enforce a personal reality (polite term) on others and attempt to control and punish them for upsetting you if their reality or needs jars it.

There is no right to be recognised as something you materially are not.

These things are not human rights at all, they are an attempt to create a class with sufficient power to overwhelm other people's human rights.

But so many of the words and phrases used by this movement are not used with any real comprehension of their semantic meaning or context or even how they work beyond 'big word that gets used in important contexts that should make people do what I say when I deploy it'.

I think they are sending their best! 😬

Jo has released her Witness Statement. I got an email a few minutes ago with it. So please check your emails gardening wimms.

Thanks for the link.

It's particularly chilling that these people

• are the academy
• have wielded substantial power
• are supported by the infrastructure of bodies like universities
• are funded by the resources of bodies like universities
• have no mechanisms of accountability despite impact on others like Jo
• control the literature in several fields of research
• influence social and public policy
• [insert own miserable reflection and set of concerns…]

One last push to cover the rising costs (which I believe is what the OU were hoping for) - honestly the entertainment value of BC picking apart these idiots is worth every penny.

Indeed. Someone used a succinct sentence, which, to me, encapsulates the irrefutable nature of the argument.

Paraphrased:

"I do not accept that you can force me to participate in your self image."

MORE GARDENING URGENTLY NEEDED DUE TO THE OU FUCKWITTERY. I AM GOING IN FOR A GIANT PUMPKIN

Have gardened again. I'm absolutely getting my money's worth.

Exactly - the mind boggles. As Helen Joyce pointed out on a podcast a while ago - why is it now considered a human right to be legally recognised as something that you are not?

Until I heard her say that I never thought of it in that way, it's truly ridiculous and an abuse of the legal system.

One last push to cover the rising costs (which I believe is what the OU were hoping for) - honestly the entertainment value of BC picking apart these idiots is worth every penny.

Have just cancelled 2 streaming services and a newspaper subscription (or will when the telephone system works through) so I can re-direct money to this. As ever, the process adds to the punishment and the financial precarity is part of the overall strategy.

How could we NOT garden? I'm going to get very muddy this weekend!

Just been to Sex Matters - where can I read Maya's take on this tribunal (mentioned on here)??